has any engineer or crew member been involved with an incident other than a grade crossing? ------------------ http://www.angelfire.com/wv/appalachianatlantic/images/theappalachian&atlantic.html
I have a picture that gives you an idea about what we deal with, but I couldn't figure out how to put it on the site. If anywone wants to see it, just email me and I'll send it to you. Better yet, someone can tell me how to post it on this thing! hahaha, and it's not gruesome, just a snapshot. Thanks you guys! Dave North Illinois Central Mainline of Mid America
I am not an engineer or a crew member but as a regular user of the GO system from Toronto to Clarkson I do remember the train hitting a young guy who was trying to take a short cut across a four track main line. What was he thinking? A needless loss of life and what effect does that have on the poor engineer who sees this coming but is not in a position to do anything. ------------------ Robin Maberly and Tayside
One incident that sticks in my head happened while I was working as a conductor on a 135 car loaded coal train. We had to go down a 2% grade with a nice sag at the top and a 10 mph speed restriction most of the way down. The engineer was not qualified so he had a pilot to coach him down the hill. To make a long story short, I'll leave out some of the details but let's just say you NEVER knock off the brakes at the top of this hill. For some unknown reason, the new guy reached up and swatted the automatic handle and let go of the brakes just as we went over the cliff. The pilot came right out of his seat screaming, the engineer instantly broke out sweating and my rear end started taking bites out of the seat cushions. The train took off like a missile even though he went back after the brakes and had the dynamics buried. The pilot had two or three cigarettes going and I was watching the speedo tick up like the second hand on my watch. We went through the 10 at about 37 and still gaining. Finally, with the brakes in handle off and the dynamics off the scale, the grade started to level off and the train brakes started to lock up. In two minutes, he was in #8 pulling and the thing was going to stall going downhill. By now the pilot had smoked a whole pack and the engineer looked like he'd been out in the rain. With the pilot's help he managed to cycle the brakes, keep it moving and hold it back enough so I didn't have to put on 60 or 70 handbrakes while the train charged up. We made it down and made a planned stop at the bottom. I felt like I'd been in a wrestling match and the engineer got out of the seat shaking like a leaf and looking like he wanted to kiss the ground. The pilot took it the rest of the way to the plant muttering about crazy new kids, why did he answer his phone and smoking a lot more than usual. Needless to say, when I started qualifying on that little hill, I had a lot of respect for what could happen when it doesn't go quite like you planned. I'll always remember watching that speedo, 35..36..37..38..etc.
